


The Problem With the Accelerator

by kitkatt0430



Series: Hartmonfest2019 [25]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Betrayal, Cisco discovers the problem with the accelerator instead of Hartley, Eobard Thawne has just made a major tactical error, Gen, Grief, Hartmon Fest 2019, Role Reversal, and is promptly fired, mourning for Tommy Merlyn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-13 18:41:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18036752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkatt0430/pseuds/kitkatt0430
Summary: When Hartley takes time off work to mourn Tommy Merlyn's death, he hands off some of his work to Cisco.  It should have been all pretty routine, except Cisco notices some discrepancies between the official plans and the actual accelerator.  When he brings it to Dr. Wells attention, Cisco finds himself without a job and, with Caitlin and Ronnie off on their honeymoon, friendless.  With nothing left to lose, Cisco heads to Starling City in the hope that maybe, possibly, Hartley will be willing to listen.Hartmon 2019 Prompt:– March 11th – Role Reversal– Mar 12th - working together





	The Problem With the Accelerator

**Author's Note:**

> Hartley doesn't like Laurel. He's biased against her, though, and never thought she was good enough for Tommy. So, just as a warning, Hartley's not super charitable towards how badly she's handling Tommy's death. And considering how badly she handled it in canon... but he is aware that he's biased and not thinking things through rationally and he's trying not to be an awful dick about it, because Tommy wouldn't have appreciated that.

Cisco scowled at the simulation and hit the button to re-run the calculations.

This was supposed to be Rathaway's job. Updating the simulations. It was boring work, but important, and Dr. Wells needed it finished by next Wednesday in order to start the final phase of the accelerator's construction. But Rathaway was taking personal leave and so, by a process of elimination, the simulation updates had fallen to Cisco to complete.

Normally it would have been Ronnie who was next in line for Hartley's work, but Ronnie was also out this week (and the following week). So was Caitlin, seeing as they were on their honeymoon. The wedding had been a lovely ceremony on Monday; they'd flown out on Tuesday and now the happy couple was in Hawaii enjoying sandy beaches and overpriced umbrella drinks.

On Wednesday evening, there was a breaking news report on pretty much every local news outlet. A bomb went off in Starling City causing massive damage to an area called the Glades. Reports of casualties were still coming in until well into the following day.

Thursday morning, Hartley received a call. He practically jumped on his phone in the break room when it rang.

_"Tommy, it's about damn time. I've been calling you since the news started..." Rathaway trailed off, inhaling sharply. "Oliver? What the hell are you doing calling from Tommy's phone? Where is he?"_

_Rathaway's face turned ashen and he dropped the mug in his hand, ceramic shards and tea suddenly littering the floor. He swayed and Dr. Wells was suddenly standing beside him, steadying him._

_"No. No, no, no," Rathaway was breathing hard. "No, he can't, he... he was supposed to... oh god, he can't be dead."_

That was about when Cisco shooed everyone out of the break room, including himself. Rathaway deserved some privacy and Dr. Wells was the only one whose sympathy would be acceptable. Unsurprisingly, Hartley was gone for the rest of the day and didn't come back on Friday.

Which meant that Cisco was left with the job of updating the simulations.

Simulations that were showing glowing results... except there were problems with the underlying numbers.

Cisco almost hadn't noticed it. He'd been inputting the data, largely just copy pasting from spreadsheets into the simulator because the simulator program didn't accept .csv data files. But he'd noticed after running the first simulation that part of the accelerator didn't look quite right. He'd worked on that part himself, and the curve was off by a degree, he was sure of it.

So he'd dug up the schematics and found the files he'd worked off of. The first set of schematics confirmed what Cisco had thought; the curve was definitely off. Except... there was a hidden secondary set of files with contradictory creation dates in the meta data. The hidden files matched the simulator data, the available files did not.

That was... worrying, to say the least. Cisco had updated the sims with the corrected data and was now waiting for the results. But he was also combing through the rest of the new data, double checking the numbers and searching for other 'hidden' schematics with wonky meta data.

There were a lot.

* * *

Cisco finished running the simulation for Dr. Wells.  "It only takes a few minutes at most, based on these simulations, for the accelerator to start overloading," he stated when Wells just sat there, staring blankly at the screen.  "I don't... I don't know where the bad data is coming from, but someone must be trying to sabotage the accelerator.  The only thing I can't figure out is why anyone would do that.  This wouldn't just ruin STAR Lab's reputation, it'd kill people.  Who would want to risk something like that?"

Wells sighed and rubbed a hand across his face, exhaling hard.

"I'm so sorry, I know this can't be easy for you to see..." Cisco twisted his hands together nervously.  This was a setback of months or, more likely, years.  They'd have to go over every inch of the pipeline to determine it's actual current construction and then rip parts out entirely to redo them.  Worst case scenario was that the entire pipeline would need to be torn apart and redone.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ramon," Dr. Wells said quietly, sounding genuinely regretful.  "I never expected you would be the one to find this.  I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to vacate the premises and not return."

"What?"  Cisco asked faintly, certain he had to have heard wrong.  He couldn't have just heard... Dr. Wells couldn't have just said...  Doctor Harrison Wells wouldn't endanger lives like this... would he?

"You're fired, Mr. Ramon.  I'll have your things sent to your apartment as soon as possible.  You need to leave."

"You're... you're just going to cover this up?"  Cisco shook his head.  "You can't.  People's lives are at risk.  This... this has the potential to be worse than what just happened in Starling City.  Dr. Wells... you're better than this."

"I think you'll find there's a great deal you simply don't understand.  About me and about my accelerator."  Dr. Wells made a regretful sound.  "Don't make me call security."

Cisco thought, for a moment, he might pass out.  He wasn't sure he was breathing and his skin felt cold, clammy.  "I... I need my keys and..."

"Go get them and then you have to leave."

Nodding, Cisco scurried out of Dr. Wells office and down the hall to the work space he'd been using.  He yanked open the drawer with his keys and wallet and cell phone, but then hesitated.  His computer was still on.  He could still log in.

After a second's hesitation, Cisco did just that, logging in to his computer and then, biting his lip nervously, logging into his drop box account.  And then he started uploading simulation data.  When he realized just how long it was going to take to finish uploading - time Cisco did not have - he quickly changed the browser settings to wipe the history and cookies on shut down and then set the computer to auto shut down in an hour.  He'd have to make due with whatever files he got when the time came.  He didn't dare risk leaving the computer logged into his account any longer than that and, quite frankly, an hour was probably too long of a risk anyway.

But he turned off the screen and walked down the hallways of STAR Labs one last time before heading to the garage, getting into his car, and driving home.  Once at his apartment, Cisco just... slept.  Maybe in the morning, this would all turn out to be some awful nightmare.

It wasn't.

* * *

Hartley scrubbed a hand over his face and then pulled off his glasses, cleaning the lenses on the bottom hem of his shirt before sliding them back in place.

It didn't make staring at Tommy's coffin any easier.

Fuck.  He couldn't do this.

He started to stand up, but Thea grabbed his hand and Hartley sank back down into his chair.  Right.  This wasn't about him right now.

"Thanks," he muttered lowly to the young woman and she nodded, eyes red as she clutched at his hand a touch painfully.  But he held her hand tightly in return and, slowly, Thea relaxed her grip a bit.

At the front of the room, Oliver walked up to Tommy's casket and put his hand on it for a long moment before turning toward everyone gathered in the small room.

"I, uh... first I'd like to thank everyone for coming so quickly.  A lot of people died when Tommy did and, with Malcolm being responsible... I thought it best we bury Tommy quickly so that a lot of the rightfully angry and grieving people don't take that out on Tommy's... Tommy's funeral."  Oliver swallowed hard and took a shaky breath.  "Tommy was my best friend.  He was family.  I don't... I don't know how to let him go yet.  For most of our lives, Tommy and I were attached at the hip.  And when I was marooned on that island, Tommy didn't give up on finding me.  I couldn't have asked for a better friend and... I just wish I'd repaid that friendship the way he deserved.  Anyway, I thought maybe... we could each take a turn saying something about Tommy.  What we remember about him best, what we'll miss the most..." Oliver wiped at his face and the quickly conceded the floor to Laurel.

She talked, briefly, about their relationship and Hartley had to hold his tongue because at least Oliver was willing to admit he'd been a shitty friend to Tommy this last year.  Laurel spoke about their relationship like it had been all sunshine and daisies.  Like they hadn't broken up shortly before Tommy died.  Like she hadn't stomped all over his feelings for years, calling Tommy 'the mistake' or 'the lapse'.

Instead, Hartley sat and waited his turn to stand in front of their small gathering and talk about who Tommy was.  The kind person hidden beneath the bluster.

"Tommy saved my life," are the first words Hartley says when he reaches the front of the room.  "When my parents disowned me, I was also getting out of an abusive relationship and... I still don't know how Tommy found out about it all.  We weren't close at the time.  Honestly, I don't think we'd really interacted outside of the Queen Family Christmas Parties.  But I was depressed and and pretty messed up over it all and... Tommy showed up out of the blue one day and just wouldn't leave.  Not until he knew I was okay.  He helped me start therapy and even moved to Central City for a year to be my roommate and make sure I actually managed to complete college because... like I said, I was a depressed mess.  And he just... he saved me.  After that, Tommy was my best friend.  And much like Oliver, I don't... I don't know how to process any of this.  Tommy was the most kind, vibrant person I knew and... I keep thinking that can't be him.  He can't be dead."  Hartley shook his head.  He wanted to talk about how funny and kind Tommy could be.  How much of jerk he could be.  How much Tommy had loved his friends, but how unworthy of being loved in return Tommy had felt.  But... he couldn't.  The words just got stuck in his throat.

"Sorry," Hartley winced.  "I... who's next?"

Thea stood up and hugged Hartley, then took his spot at the front of the room while he gratefully slunk back to his seat.

Checking his watch, Hartley suppressed a grimace.  It felt like he'd been here hours.  But the funeral had only started maybe twenty minutes ago at best.

Time continued to crawl by at a snails pace.

* * *

"So, tomorrow morning we're having the actual interment.  Where he's..." Oliver paused and his hands shook for a second before he clenched them into fists at his side.  "The actual burial."

"What time will I need to be up for?" Hartley asked, determinedly not side-eyeing Laurel who'd just grabbed what he was fairly certain was her third glass of wine.  If she wanted to drink her feelings...

Tommy wouldn't have liked that.  Shit.

"Nine o'clock," Oliver was saying.  "We'll leave a nine, should be only a half-hour drive to the grave site.  Thea will probably ambush you at about eight-forty, to make sure you're awake and ready to go.  She's always been an early riser and since you agreed to stay with us, well..."

"That's fine.  You might want to check on Laurel, though.  Unless I miss my guess, that's her third glass already."  Hartley nodded towards the blonde woman.

Oliver looked over at her and grimaced.  "We haven't been here that long."

"Which is why you should check on her," Hartley said.  "I'd do it myself, but I'm too pissed off at her right now."  Seeing Oliver's startled expression, Hartley shrugged.  "I know, rationally, that the problems between her and Tommy were as much Tommy's fault as hers.  And that you contributed to their issues and were a generally awful friend this last year.  But Tommy's dead and you at least acknowledge that you fucked up terribly.  She is trying to rewrite the past and seems to be looking to get very drunk.  Even if I weren't upset with how she's using her grief as an excuse to ignore reality, I am intensely uncomfortable around drunk people."

Earl had been a drunk, which had contributed heavily to his abusive behavior.  It was why Tommy never got drunk around Hartley.  Well... not never, but it was... it had been incredibly rare and only when Tommy was sure beforehand that Hartley was okay with Tommy being drunk around him.

"Fair enough."  Oliver sighed regretfully and shifted uncomfortably.  "Laurel and I slept together.  After she and Tommy broke up.  At the time it seemed like... finally giving the relationship we used to have some closure.  But now I just feel like I betrayed Tommy and I'm pretty sure Laurel feels the same way.  She can barely stand to look at me and, honestly... I can barely look at her either."

"Okay, so generally awful was an understatement.  You were a shitty friend this last year," Hartley allowed, quirking a smile.  "Tommy would've forgiven you.  Eventually.  He loved you, Oliver.  He'd have forgiven you anything, with enough time.  He'd have probably let you get away with murder, if you promised it'd never happen again."

Oliver snorted softly and looked away.  

"Look, I'm not checking on Laurel and if you're not going to check on Laurel, we should find someone to do it for us."

"I'll ask Dig to do it."

Hartley glances over at Laurel and that third glass of wine is already starting to look emptier.  There are quite a few other people drinking, too, now that he's actually looking.

"Do you mind if I head out early?  I just... I'm not going to be good company for long, I think."

"Yeah, sure."  Oliver digs his keys out of his pocket and pulls the house key to the mansion off to hand over.  "Thea's got her keys with her too, so I'll just get her to let us in.  Do you need me to call you a ride, or..."

"I'll take an Uber," Hartley assured him.  "Thanks."  He pocketed the key and made his way out of the funeral home's bar area, meant for private wakes.

It was still so fucking surreal to think he was here for Tommy.

Stepping outside, Hartley found himself a bench to sit on and just took a few minutes to breathe.  Then he pulled out his phone and unlocked the screen.  Two missed calls from... Ramon?  What the hell was Cisco Ramon calling Hartley for?

Maybe he was offering condolences?  Cisco could be a surprisingly thoughtful person sometimes, Hartley wouldn't put it past the man to call to say something nice on the off chance that Hartley needed to hear it.  But... that would account for one call and a voicemail.  Not two calls and possibly two voicemails.

Taking his phone off silent, Hartley hit the button for his voicemail and brought the phone up to his ear.

"You have two missed calls.  First missed call, Saturday at 10:21 am."  There was a soft beep and then Ramon's voice came on.  "Hi, Rathaway.  I'm sorry to be calling you about this, but I don't... I don't really know that I've got any other choice.  There's... I found a problem with the accelerator and Dr. Wells... he won't listen.  It's really, really bad and it can't wait or I wouldn't... I wouldn't be disturbing you while you're in Starling.  Please call me back when you get this message.  I'm, uh... I'm headed to Starling because this is something you really need to see for yourself.  I'll try calling again when I get th-" the message cut off and Hartley realized he was staring pretty hard at the sky.

What the hell sort of problem could there be with the accelerator that was bad enough to freak Cisco out, yet Harrison wouldn't listen?  And how could it possibly be so damn urgent it couldn't wait until he came back to work?  Then again... what could Harrison have possibly said that would have Ramon running to Hartley, of all people, for help?

"Second missed call, Saturday at 12:16 pm."  The soft beep went off again, switching back to Cisco's voice once more.  "Um, hi again.  I'm, uh, in Starling now.  And, again, I'm really sorry about this.  If it weren't urgent, I wouldn't have... look, just, please call me back alright?"

Hartley hung up on his voicemail, cursing softly.  Ramon was in Starling, looking for him.  Much as Hartley would like to go back to the Queen family mansion as he'd planned... he needed to know what the hell was going on with Ramon and Harrison and STAR Labs.  For all the mocking jokes about Hartley being 'the Chosen One', Cisco was pretty clearly Harrison's real favorite.  If there was some misunderstanding there... well, clearing that up actually sounded more appealing than continuing to wallow over Tommy's death.

Mind made up, Hartley dialed Cisco's number.

* * *

Cisco was practically vibrating with nervous energy as Hartley silently went over all the documentation for what felt like the hundredth time.  It wasn't.  Of course it wasn't.  At most, Hartley had read through the majority of the documents only twice, though he'd referred back to some of them more than that.

"God dammit," Hartley muttered under his breath, at one point.  "Harrison swore that was a fucking glitch.  He said he'd fix it himself."  Another time Hartley said something in Latin that, if it meant what Cisco thought it meant, was not a flattering thing to imply about Dr. Wells' parentage.

Finally, Hartley grabbed his coffee and leaned back, taking a drink only to grimace in remembrance that it was empty.

"Ramon, what was Harrison's reaction when you presented all this to him?"

"He... he didn't seem surprised.  And then he... he fired me, immediately."  Cisco flinched as he admitted that, because... having those documents on his computer could get him sued.  He'd been trying not to think of that ever since deciding to come to Hartley for help.  But being sued was a distinct possibility.

"A few of these problems, I've identified before," Hartley said quietly.  "Harrison would call them minor glitches or mistakes and say he'd fix them himself and I believed him, but this... he 'fixed' it alright.  He buried the evidence."  Hartley swore in what Cisco thought sounded like German.  "I was hoping this was some kind of misunderstanding.  It explains why this is all on your personal laptop, not your work laptop, though."

Cisco looked down guiltily. 

"I hate to say this, but we need a lawyer's advice.  And I do happen to know one who could help us figure out the minefield this puts us in, but she's getting drunk at my dead friend's wake right now."

"I'm really sorry for your loss," Cisco told Hartley quietly.

"Yeah, well, I need to keep going through this and a coffee shop isn't exactly conducive to me figuring out what the fuck Harrison thinks he's doing."  Hartley ran his hands through his hair and made a frustrated sound.  "Do you mind going back to Queen manor with me?  Oliver and Thea are letting me stay with them and, considering what you've brought to me, I don't think they'll mind too much me bringing you back there."

"Yeah, that's... that's fine.  You... you really believe me?  I was worried... you don't even like me," Cisco blurted out, then flushed and clamped his hands over his mouth before he could say anything else stupid.

"You know... sometimes you're such an anime protagonist," Hartley huffed out, sounding more amused than upset.  "It's really annoying.  But the thing about you, Cisco?  You're a shitty liar.

"A week ago... a week ago I would have told you that Malcolm Merlyn was an asshole.  A racist, classist jerk who was very good at pandering to his fellow rich in order to win awards for philanthropy when what he'd done to win the award could be classified as anything but philanthropic.  But I would have never believed he was capable of genocide.  And now I know I was wrong.  My best friend is dead.  And Harrison has been lying to me about the very thing I've been pouring my heart into since pretty much the day I was hired.

"I'm utterly furious and I don't want to believe you.  But I can't ignore this information either.  Or else when the accelerator blows up and takes half the city with it in December... well, it'd be my fault but I supposed I wouldn't be alive to regret my decision making paradigm."

* * *

Hartley calls Oliver when he gets back to the mansion with Cisco.  Neither Oliver nor Thea are back yet and Oliver doesn't answer his phone, but Hartley leaves a message telling Oliver that one of his coworkers showed up asking for Hartley's help and Hartley hopes its okay he had that coworker come back to the mansion.  Hartley doesn't explain too much, but hopefully enough that Oliver will understand that what came up at work is really fucking important.

While Hartley is not pleased Cisco copied all this data illegally from his work computer, he also gets why Cisco did it.  And, ultimately, he agrees it was the right call.

Of course, Hartley is now even more anxious to wake up from this fucking awful nightmare, but he's resigned himself to the fact this is reality now.  Tommy's dead, it's Malcolm's fault but he's also dead and also a genocidal maniac who tried to wipe out an entire class of people because prejudice, and now... now it was looking like Harrison was keeping two copies of everything they were building at work.  One copy of what they were actually building and one copy of what they thought they were building.  An accelerator that would explode and an accelerator that would work.

It's mind boggling.  It makes Hartley want to go curl up in a corner and cry.  But he's been doing a lot of crying lately, so his tears seem to finally be cried out at least.

He really needs to make an appointment with his therapist.

"So, um... what do we do next?"  Cisco finally asked.

"Well, I'm in this with you now.  Okay, Cisco?"  Hartley looks up at the younger scientist and is unexpectedly glad to see the relief on Cisco's face.  "So, first we need to discuss this with that lawyer friend of mine.  Laurel Lance.  She will hopefully be able to help us find a lawyer licensed in Central City, because I don't think she's licensed to practice law outside of this state.  But we need to be sure that you'll be protected if Harrison tries to come after you with a lawsuit over this.  Same with me, since the data here is incomplete and we'll probably need the rest of it.  Which means I'm going to need to provide it.  We'll need to bring this information to reporters, to the city, and... we're going to need the backing of someone a lot more respected in the scientific community if we're going to take on Harrison and stop the accelerator in time.  I was thinking of Dr. McGee.  She could probably also help you with your sudden case of being unemployed, too."

Cisco wiped at his face.  "Thanks, Hartley," he said quietly.

"We're not going to let Harrison turn our hard work into a tragedy," Hartley promised.  "And when Raymond and Snow get back from their honeymoon, I'm sure they'll do whatever they can to help stop this too."  He paused, then added, "have you talked to them about this yet?"

Cisco shook his head negatively.  "I didn't really think they could do anything to help and... I wanted them to enjoy their honeymoon before coming back to this mess."

There was the sound of a door opening in the other room and Hartley glanced to the side.  "Sounds like Oliver and Thea are back," he muttered.  He stood up and went to greet them, uncertain as to whether Oliver had gotten his message or not.

"Hey, so I called earlier," Hartley began, handing Oliver his key back.

"I got your message," Oliver replied.  "It's fine.  Is your coworker still here?"

Hartley nodded.  "It's looking like I'm going to be facing an utter shit show when I get back to Central City."

"Anything I can do to help?" Oliver asked.

"Honestly?  I have no idea yet, but now you've offered so no take backs."

Oliver laughed.

"Well I'm offering too," Thea spoke up.  "Seriously, Hartley.  You've always been terrible about trying to do everything yourself."

"Then I've got what may be a difficult job for you tomorrow.  Keep Laurel relatively sober for me long enough that Cisco and I can consult her on what we're going to do about STAR Labs, okay?  I don't like being around people who are drunk and she was drinking wine like an engineer drinks coffee at the wake."

Thea nodded, expression rueful.  "Yeah, I'll keep an eye on her tomorrow."  Unlike Oliver, she'd seen Hartley after his parents disowned him and he broke up with Earl.  She knew just how much being around people who were drinking made him anxious.

* * *

It was getting late in the evening when Cisco remembered he needed to take the train back to Central City.

"Don't bother," Oliver told him.  "You're gonna have to come right back tomorrow and it's a waste of train fare.  We've got plenty of room here, so stay."

"Are you sure?"  Cisco shifted nervously.  "I don't want to be a bother."

"You're not.  Hey, Hart, when you turn in, show Cisco to the room on the left of the one you're staying in, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Hartley replied, looking so lost in the two schematics he'd printed out and was doing a thorough compare/contrast on that Cisco was surprised the man had heard anything they were saying.

Oliver looked amused.  "See you two in the morning," he said, heading up to bed.  Thea'd headed up not long after dinner - and it had been very nice of the Queens to include Cisco despite him being such an unexpected guest at such a terrible time.

In fact, Oliver Queen himself seemed like a really nice person despite being top of Cisco's short list of potential identities for the vigilante known as the Hood.

"He's sure changed a lot," Hartley mused, finally looking up.

"Oliver?"

"Yeah.  He used to be the biggest party boy.  Put even Tommy to shame with his frat boy ways."

"Tommy's the one who..."

"Who died, yeah."  Hartley stood and stretched and wandered over to the fireplace for a moment, snatching a photo of the mantle.  "Here's him with Oliver and Thea.  They were better family for him than Malcolm ever was."

Cisco wandered over and took a look at the photo to see an attractive dark haired man with a big grin, arms around the Queen siblings' shoulders.

"What was he like?  If... if you don't mind me asking."

Hartley pursed his lips and, for a moment, Cisco was pretty sure he was going to be insulted next for sticking his nose where it didn't belong.

"He was always afraid he wasn't enough for the people he loved," Hartley said quietly instead.  "I think... that's why we clicked so well."

The implication there being... Hartley felt that way too.

Then Hartley started talking about some party he'd gone to once with Tommy and the ridiculous antics that Tommy had gotten up to and... Cisco found himself laughing quietly.  Tommy Merlyn sounded like someone who'd been fun to know.

* * *

Tommy's coffin lowered into the ground and those gathered there that morning each tossed in a handful of dirt.

Hartley hated it.  He'd woken up angry and been waspish and tetchy to everyone.  Thea'd hugged him until he hugged her back, though.

Cisco had been quiet and acting guilty again, which just made Hartley more irritated.  It wasn't Cisco's fault they were in this situation.  It was...

One best friend dead, another was turning out to not be what he'd represented himself as... it was no wonder he was so pissed off.

"Laurel, I need to talk to you," Hartley said, when they were done with the ceremony.  "As a lawyer."

She looked at him sharply, eyes narrowed.  She knew he didn't much like her, after all.  Laurel'd never much liked him either, after all.

"What can I possibly do for you as a lawyer, Hartley?"

"There's reason to believe something a lot worse than the Undertaking is going to happen in Central City when the Accelerator gets turned on this December.  I need your help to make sure that doesn't happen."

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt, while there's the obvious role reversal in that Cisco finds the problem with the accelerator and is fired for it, there's also a subtle one in there too. In the show, when Hartley shows up he's angry and alone. There was no one he could turn to for help after Harrison finished demolishing Hartley's reputation and no friends to support him when he needed help the most. Whereas Cisco had a support group. Barry, Caitlin, and Joe who trusted and validated him even when he was claiming to remember an aborted timeline in his dreams. And I've flipped that. With Ronnie and Caitlin away, Cisco's support group is gone. He can't go to his family for help, because what can they realistically do? But this version Hartley has Oliver and Thea Queen in his corner, Laurel Lance as a contact he can trust will want to do the right thing, and has networked outside of STAR Labs: the support network Cisco currently lacks.
> 
> It'll probably be a while before I get back to this verse, though, which is why I'm making it a series instead of a multi-chapter thing where I don't know how long it'll be. That way I can update it as things in small chunks as they come to me. I'm starting to think I deal better with WIP stories that way.


End file.
